Fishy, what do they know then??? Althea Ducati shutters its Superstock team | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks
They can't use the 1098r/1198 forever. Someone needs to drive the panigale project, there's too much at stake not to race it...and win with it.
Yeah it's gotta be used in Superstock and BSB, to get the data they need to ready it for the WSB stage.
The article seemed to imply that the issue wasn't so much a fundamental problem with the bike but Ducati using Althea as its test mule making them uncompetitive, whereas independent teams can do their own thing/developement
Looks like we may soon see the 1199.1 and so on, like the Moto GP of last year. All not good press, for what ever the reason might be for pulling out on the 1199
Do you guys actually watch racing or just read the gossip? Here are the results for the first 2 rounds of Superstock (Podium finishes both rounds) The Superbike World Championship Official Site The Superbike World Championship Official Site For the first year as well!
Maybe you should re read the thread with a hint of satire and sarcasm in mind.....as I'm not entirely sure the posts are that serious :wink: Do you actually read the thread gossip or just watch the racing? :biggrin: The OP only informs of Althea pulling the plug on their effort as they "had not planned for a full superstock season", not that there was a problem with the machine. Please read this post light heartedly as that is exactly how it's supposed to be read.
The timing of the production release date combined with it being a 'fresh sheet of paper' design rather than it being any kind of evolution has probably resulted in race teams being thrown in at the deep end development-wise. Must be an 'exciting' time for race engineers.
That was a serious thread starter. It seemed strange to me that a team with factory connections/backup would pull the plug after a blowup. I'd have thought the factory would want to develop the 1199 in conjuction with the top WSBk team ready for next year.
Maybe they've seen enough already to make their plans, it was never gonna be run for the full season by them. It may not be a decision based on doom and gloom tho, although it could be and Althea may be plannig to sponsor and rum something different next year. Time will tell, it's very early in th Panigale's life for global domination, the paint's not really had time to harden yet. Even the 1098r took time to grow into it's mantle, and it's currently having more success at the end of it's life, than it did at the beginning. I don't think it's all over just yet.
